New Life

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3

Ever have one of those days when everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong at the moment? Maybe you’re having that day right now. The last thing you need is someone telling you to consider it an opportunity for great joy, but that is precisely what James is telling us. When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 

This is something we have to do consciously because, frankly, it goes against our human nature to consider joy amid trouble. But finding joy in life’s difficulties is to find God himself. I heard someone say today, “We all want to grow, but we don’t want it to rain.” It’s the storms that bring new life. 

It rarely snows where I live, but last winter we got eight inches over a two-day period. The temperatures plummeted below zero. Less than one week later, it was almost 70 degrees. Once the snow melted, I noticed something peculiar in my back yard—everywhere the snow had melted was green. The storm came and from it new life sprang forth. 

Consider it joy when trouble comes, not for sake of trouble itself, but rather when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. When you find joy in the storm, you find God. So when the trouble melts away, new life will spring forth because of your faith.